Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by AEI Critical Threats Project Iran Analyst Will Fulton. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Member of the Steadfastness Front Central Council Hojjat al-Eslam Ghasem Ravanbakhsh condemned reformists:
  • "Past events demonstrate that reformists are seeking to spread corruption, not stop it."
  • "...we object to the current government because it has become similar to reformists and introduced ideas such as Cyrus [the Great] and Iranian doctrine."
  • "What are your policies in the face of sanctions? If you sit instead of [Said] Jalili at the negotiations table will you want to defend Iran's special right to access peaceful nuclear technology? Or will you want to silence matters like Khatami or, like Gadhafi, open nuclear installations and hand over and set us back by two decades."
• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said "creating division within the Islamic ummah is one of the special goals of Zionists" during a meeting with Pakistani president Asef Ali Zardari. Khamenei also praised increased cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad.

Regional Developments

• Wathiq al Batat, leader of the so-called Army of the Chosen [jaysh al mukhtar] related to Iraqi Hezbollah, threatened Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Persian Gulf Arab countries. He added that he would cooperate with the central Iraqi government in combating al Qaeda and corruption.
• Burial of Lebanese Hezbollah member Zaher Hossein Al-Namr, companion of former Hezbollah leader Abbas Mousavi who was killed in 1992, took place in Beirut today after he passed away in surgery due to  injuries sustained 21 years ago. Head of Hezbollah Religious Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek confirmed the group's foremost loyalty to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah in the eulogy.
• Hezbollah released a statement condemning the recent death of Palestinian prisoner Arghat Jeradat in an Israeli prison:
  • "The martyrdom of this Palestinian prisoner of war during interrogation and under torture and harassment by the Zionist executioner once again revealed the ugly face of this regime in the torture and harassment of Palestinian and Arab prisoners of war including children, women, and men.

Economy

• The government's forthcoming fiscal budget reports a $20 billion decrease in Iranian oil revenue.

Photo of the Day

• Said Jalili speaking at a press conference following P5+1 negotiations in Kazakhstan.